Snap switch



y 1948- H. D. STEINBACK 2,441,924

SNAP SWITCH Filed April so, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet .1

' -2 1 fly l f /1 Q 6 K i (y Z5 .HTTORNEY INVZN T011. A/erberf P. Jiaizback v Patented May 18 1948 1 UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE Herbert D. Steinback, Wilmette, Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments. Allied Control Company, Inc., a corporation of New York 4 Application' April so, 1946, Serial No. 665,952

' ings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a snap switch embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end view of Fig. 2 on anenlarged scale;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate various parts of the switch;

Figure 7 is an enlarged section on the line 1-"! of Fig. 2, and I Fig. 8 is an enlarged section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 1.

A plate ill of suitable insulating material such,-

for example, as Bakelite constitutes a base to which are attached the edges of the side members oi! a channel-shaped sheet metal case ll. Preferably, the base i has side notches l2 in which are received prongs l3 projecting from the case II and being turned over into contact with the outer face of the plate it]. At opposite ends of the base In are located terminals l4 and respectively which are arranged insubstantial alinement and held in place by rivets [6. The terminals are offset as at Ma and lid respectively so that while the inner portions ofthe terminals rest on the inner face of the base III, the outer portions of the terminal are flush with the outer face of the base l8. At their er ends, the terminals are provided with upstand ng ears Nb and I5!) respectively.

A washer l1 rests on the inner face of the base l0 midway its ends and isprovided with a hub l8 on which is arranged a rotor l9. The rotor i9 isretained on the hub I8 and the washer I1 is clamped to the base III by a rivet 20, the head of which engages the top surface of the hub l8. The stem of the rivet extends through an opening 2| in the base I0 and-an eyelet in a contact 1 Claim. (Cl. 200- 67) a projection 25 from the button, the projection being of greater width than the slit to retain the button inassembled relation to the case. A pin 26 is fixed to the button 24 with one end extending from the projection 25 toward the rotor IS. The pin 28 is provided with a peripheral groove 21 and the rotor 19 is provided with an upstanding lug 28 in the edges of which are provided alined grooves 29.

The rotor is provided with three radial arms arranged substantially in the form of a symmetrical T. A projection 28 is provided at the free end of the'central arm or the T while upstanding ears 80 are provided at the ends or the other arms for alternate engagement with ears |4b and. lib upon to and fro movement of the rotor IS. The path of movement of the axis of the pin 26 lies in a plane intersecting the plate 10 between the axis of the rivet 23 and the arc traversed by the projection 28 upon movement of the rotor l9 between the position in which an ear 30 engages a contact Nb and the position in which an ear 30 engages the contact lib.

The pin 26 and the projection 28 are interconnected by a wire spring 3| having a loop 32 at one end encircling the projection 28 and a loop 33 at its other end encircling the pin 26. Intermediate its ends the spring 3| has a multiple turn coil 34 from which the two end portions of the spring extend in such manner as to give sub stantially V-shape to the spring. The arrangement of the spring is such that in one position of the slide 24 the spring biases the rotor l9 to locate an ear 30 in contact with the ear l5b while with the slide 24 in its other position, the spring biases the rotor l9 to engage the remaining ear 30 with the ear l4b. During movement of the slide 24 from one extreme position to the other, the coil 34 of the spring 3i is additionally tensioned until the pin 26 passes the dead-center position, after which the coil 34 unwinds to reverse the position of the rotor l9 with the wellknown snap action.

At each end, the casing II is provided with a threaded aperture 35. The switch may be mounted on any suitable support by passing bolts through the threaded apertures 35 to'attach the casing to a support.

The above-described switch can be made in three different combinations as follows:

(1) Single pole, single throw, normally open (2) Single-pole, single throw, normally closed (,3) Single pole, double throw Also, it is to be understood that various modificatiqns may be made in the structure above de- 3 scribed without in any way departing from the spirit or the invention as defined in the append- 7 ed claims.

I claim:

A snap switch comprising a base 0! insulating material, a metallic channel member having its side edges fixed to said base and a portion lying spaced from and parallel to said base, an electrically conductive rotor supported by said base forrotation in a plane substantially parallel therewith and having three arms arranged substantially in symmetrical T-iorm', a lateral projectlon on-the central arm, a button of insulating material slidably carried by said portion of said channel member tor movement parallel with said base. a pin carried by said button and pro-- jeoting toward said base for reciprocation along the path which when projected to the base is oflset from the rotor axis and lies between the latter and the lateral projection on the free end 01' the central arm 01' the rotor, a substantially v-shaped resilient member formed with a coil at its apex and a loop at each end. one loop connected to said pin and the other loop engaging the proiectionon the free end oi. the central arm of the rotor, and contacts arranged in substantial alignment, one at each end or the base for engagement by one o! the two remaining rotor arms with the third arm disengaged from the remaining contact.

- HERBERT D. STEDTBACK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in th file of this patent:

15 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,641,264 Gaynor et al Sept. 6, 1927 2,171,368 Krieger Aug. 29, 1939 39 2,235,366 Haselwood Mar. 18, 1941 

